1-chloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethylene (also named as chlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE) or CFO-1113) is commonly used as a refrigerant in cryogenic applications. CFO-1113 has a carbon-carbon double bond and so can be polymerized to form polychlorotrifluoroethylene or copolymerized to produce the plastic ECTFE. Chlorotrifluoroethylene (CFO-1113) is currently manufactured commercially by dechlorinating 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane (CFC-113) via reaction with zinc in the presence of methanol as a solvent. A major drawback with this process is the formation of 1,2-dichloro-1,1,2-trifluoroethane (HCFC-123a) as a major byproduct, which greatly reduces the yield of CFO-1113 and is also costly to dispose of.
Applicants have come to appreciate that it would be desirable to develop a method which is able to convert HCFC-123a to a more useful product, including specifically CFO-1112. One route which has been contemplated by applicants for producing CFO-1113 from HCFC-123a is through its dehydrochlorination either in the presence of a caustic solution in a liquid phase reaction or more preferably in the presence of a solid catalyst in a vapor phase reaction. One potential problem that may be associated with certain vapor phase processes is the formation of by-products such as trans- and/or cis-isomers of 1,2-dichloro-1,2-difluoroethylene (CFO-1112) which can be formed via a competing dehydrofluorination reaction. The formation of these by-products in significant quantities can negatively reduce the yield of the desired CFO-1112 product and can negatively effect the process efficiency due to additional requirements for product separation. Applicants have therefore comet to appreciate that it would be advantageous to develop processes and systems, including catalyst systems, that are able to reduce or suppress the extent of undesirable dehydrofluorination reactions and to increase the productivity and yield of the desired fluorinated olefin, namely, CFO-1113.